The best “fish out of water” historical novels

The Sword Dancer takes place during the Tang Dynasty. Although I knew little about that part of history, I loved how quickly this story immersed me into the world of 8th century China. Li Feng, a young woman who was orphaned under mysterious circumstances, leaves her childhood protector and journeys to the city to uncover her past. She’s strong, smart, and brave but doesn’t always make the best choices when it comes to choosing allies. Using her wits and skill with swords, Li Feng battles human foes as well as a society that doesn’t expect her to amount to much—that is, until she discovers an ally worthy of her trust.

I couldn’t make recommendations about historical novels without including The Witch of Blackbird Pond. For me, this story is the gold standard for “fish-out-of-water” historical fiction—and was the book that first had me falling in love with the genre. In the late-17th century, Kit has been living a life of luxury and relative freedom on an island in the Caribbean. When her grandfather dies, she’s forced to sail across the Atlantic to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in Connecticut. But her new home among the Puritans proves to be restrictive, confusing, and harsh. Kit fights against fear and intolerance to create her own brand of happiness. 

When I first read Fever 1793—set in Philadelphia during a yellow fever epidemic—I thought it was a well-written and thought-provoking glimpse into how people would respond in a crisis. After re-reading it post-pandemic, I would now add “prophetic.” Mattie is a typical grumpy teen who would rather have fun than work in her family’s coffee house. But there is a deadly fever rapidly spreading through the city. Desperation unleashes her inner strength, allowing her to prevail over disease, fear, food shortages, unscrupulous thieves, and well-intentioned but poorly-managed medical science.

Until I watched the PBS/Masterpiece series Victoria, I hadn’t heard of the Chartists, a working-class group in Britain who were determined to improve their political influence. So when I stumbled across Longing—a book set against the backdrop of the Chartist Movement in Wales, the country of my ancestors—I picked it up with greedy hands. An English lord travels to Wales to oversee his recent inheritance of land and mines. But Alexander is bewildered by the seething hostility from the local villagers and the ominous silence about their reasons. When he uncovers the poor working conditions in his mines, he patiently seeks to prove that he, too, feels a Longing for the beauty and charm of his adopted country—and will do whatever it takes to make things right.

Code Name Verity is one of the finest works of historical fiction that I have ever read. Set during World War II, it tells the story of two British women pilots who agree to serve as spies. When a secret mission over France goes terribly wrong, their friendship sustains them as they fight to avoid a horrific outcome. I re-read the shocking climax scene multiple times, first to make sure I’d read it right and then to marvel at how beautifully written and heartbreakingly perfect it was. Code Name Verity is layered, suspenseful, brilliantly plotted, and—by story’s end—hopeful.